


Can't Bring the Stars Down

by MissOverlord



Category: Puyo Puyo (Video Games)
Genre: Arguing, Confusion, Dorks in Love, M/M, Making Up, Minor Injuries, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2021-01-30 10:42:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21426898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissOverlord/pseuds/MissOverlord
Summary: A spectacular once-a-decade one-night-only meteor shower and of course it just -has- to be cloudy. All Klug wants is to remain miserable indoors, yet lets Sig drag him outside, anyway. The weather has to clear eventually, right?
Relationships: Klug/Sig (Puyo Puyo)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 38





	Can't Bring the Stars Down

**Author's Note:**

> This is set roughly three to four years after the events of Fever 2, a standalone bit that fits into 'Further Demonic Entanglement'.

Absolutely miserable. _That _ summed up everything quite nicely.

For the better part of a month the bespectacled scholar had been looking forward to a particular meteor shower, one that only occurred once every ten years. One. Night.

... And it was cloudy. _ Oppressively _ cloudy.

Honestly, he would have rather stayed home to be miserable. It was more comfortable than being miserable outside. But _ no_, he just had to out here because of some misguided form of optimism seemed to have affected Sig's mind.

He could've said no, probably_ should _have, but when his boyfriend was so adamant about something so harmless it was difficult to say 'no'.

Even with no visible breaks in the cloud cover, the silly bug hunter still seemed oddly optimistic that if they waited, just _ stayed _ long enough, it had to clear up. It was easier for Sig to cope in the gloomy darkness. At least he could _ see_, thanks to that singular red demon's eye of his. Even without the moon's rays to refract, it still glowed softly, a crimson beacon in the blackness. It wasn't perfect and he still stumbled every so often, robbed of a little thing called depth perception. His right eye, the blue one, was just as ordinary and useless as both of Klug's were.

At least being out here wasn't a _ complete _ waste of time. Sitting with his head resting on Sig's shoulder was nice, but it would be just as nice to do so _ indoors_. At least then he wouldn't have to look at the sea of clouds which stubbornly refused to let even a single shaft of moonlight through.

_ Sigh_...

"Bored?"

Klug raised an eyebrow, lips forming a half-hearted smile as he mumbled, "perceptive as always, Captain of the Obvious..."

"_Captain_?" Looking surprised, Sig's half-lidded eyes beamed. Or, at least the red one did. "Got a promotion? Didn't realize..."

"Yeah, still haven't filed the paperwork though." It wasn't enough to earn a full smile, but three-quarters at least. "Remind me about it later."

The somnolist 'hmm'd in affirmation, resting his cheek against his gloomy companion's. "Wanna do something? To pass time?"

"... Honestly, Sig? I'd rather go home. Get some tea, find someplace cozy and curl up with-"

"A book?" The bug catcher chirped, giving the bookworm a small but affectionate nuzzle.

"_No, _you, actually. A book's a close second, though." Despite being interrupted, Klug really didn't mind. He suspected that Sig was being fictitious again for the sake of it, for the sake of making him smile. Damned if it didn't work, though.

Still in that impossibly good mood of his, Sig got to his feet, brushing away any loose dirt or grass clinging to his pants before offering the celestial mage a hand. "Kinda had something else in mind..."

Taking the proffered assistance, Klug eyed him skeptically and wondered just what the bug hunter was up to. It would've been easier to snuggle sitting down, so _ that _ was out. "And that is..?"

Wrapping his wary compatriot up in a slightly too-hard hug, Sig touched his nose to the academic's and seemed to purr, "fight me?"

"You..._ now _ ? Sig, this is hardly the best time. I can barely _ see _ right now, let alone..."

"Bunny, please? You'll feel better..." Invoking his favorite nickname for his oft-nervous boyfriend, he pleaded, the hair-like tufts on his head drooping a little in disappointment.

_Nocte cometes_, Sig _ really _ knew how to pull his strings, didn't he? Exhaling slowly, the scholar reluctantly mumbled, "if I do, can we leave afterward?"

"If you want, sure." The modest grin on his face implied confidence that, for whatever reason, he expected Klug would stay. Letting the mage go, he backed away, seemingly eager to get started.

_ Why does he seem so excited about this? _ It made him more than a little nervous. Usually Sig needed outside motivation to practice, and even then it was rare for him to give it his all. Clearing his throat, the bibliophile timidly asked, "S-Sig, what exactly are you up to?.."

"Can't say. It's a secret."

_ Wonderful, _ now the fidgety mage was even _ more _ worried. He barely managed to squeak, "puyo battle?"

"Mmmhm," the half-demon confirmed, his crimson eye sparkling even brighter in the low light, steadily growing in brilliance as its owner became wreathed in dark miasma, "puyo battle~."

"H-hey! You can't just-" Klug protested uselessly, inadvertently giving his opponent an early lead. He'd known Sig had been practicing, getting a handle on managing his excess power, but _ using it in a fight?! _ It was reckless, irresponsible, potentially _ dangero- _

Sig, or rather _ 'black' _ Sig, seemed at total peace with the idea, gently interrupting his sputtering cohort, "_Bunny_, you're not even gonna try?"

Hit with a sudden wave of panic, the celestial mage shrieked in alarm, trying to get a handle on an increasingly hopeless mess of junk and scattered colors. It wasn't enough, it just wasn't-

One chain, two, three, _ four_... the number just kept climbing.

Seven, eight, _ nine_... Klug stopped counting. He recognized the intricacies of the chain, however. It was based off of _ his_, one he'd been trying to teach the disinterested entomophile. Apparently, Sig _ hadn't _been goofing off the entire time as he'd suspected.

_ Oh no... _

He'd lost. In his distracted state he'd failed without getting a _ single _ chain off before being deadlocked. Even a feeble attempt at defense was well out of his means.

All the while, the shadowy figure's glowing eyes were placid, completely serene as the magical potential built up, the darkness of his silhouette edged in an incredibly brilliant shade of blue. He finally understood why the bookworm was so adamant in using exclusively big chains. If it always felt this way...

Klug suddenly realized he was going to die. Why? Because 'black' Sig was going to kill him by going _ completely overboard_, probably with an ecstatic grin on that ashen face. Well, until the half-demon realized what had happened, at least. It _ still _ wouldn't make him any less dead, though.

Maybe this was why most of the old tales recommended _ against _ such pairings.

Futilely trying to shield his own body with his forearms, the soon-to-be-deceased mage cowered in the rustling grass with his eyes squeezed shut, lamenting all the experiences he'd failed to take advantage of because of his fixation on scholastic success. The finest letter grades in all the world weren't capable of helping him get out of this.

_ For the love of everything celestial_, all he'd wanted was to watch the most spectacular meteor shower that only happened once a decade! Had it really been too much to ask?! If he'd survived, at least he'd be able t-

With the intensity of a dull roar, it finally happened. The surrounding atmospheric pressure changed so rapidly that his ears popped. He didn't see it, but he _ felt _ it easily enough.

"Perfect Sky..!"

There was a rush of unleashed arcane potential powerful enough to sting his skin, and...

... That was it.

That was _ it?! _

"S-Sig? H-how?.."

He _ missed?! How could _ ** _anyone_ ** _ possibly miss at this range?! _Frantically, the mage went from fretting about his certain demise to being annoyed that his opponent had failed to hit an immobile, cowering target.

The cheshire grin on that pale face... did... did the sleepy-eyed demi-demon do all this, put him through all of this just to _ scare him?! _It was cruel, that's what it was. Why?..

Seconds later, the black miasma drifted off and seemed to take all of the bug catcher's strength with it, leaving the youth on his knees, reeling... but still with that stupid, smug-looking smile fully intact.

Klug's first instinct was to scrabble over and try to keep his _ ex- _ sweetheart from pitching face-first into a grass, but the hurt and confusion begged him, _ pleaded _ with him to just let the cretin fall.

He didn't listen.

... _ Stars, _ he really _ had _ gone soft, hadn't he? Still, acting as a support for the irritating half-human cabbage with a mean streak didn't mean he had to look _ happy _ about it. Muttering under his breath, he stared off and away, too annoyed both with himself and with the giddy-looking idiot leaning against him.

"Haah.. hey, Klug? You okay?.." Leaning into him, the delirious-sounding simpleton had only just picked up on the increasingly obvious tension, yet failed utterly to determine its origin.

_ Really?! _ Seething, the mage's emerald-colored eyes had a deranged quality as he softly hissed, "if you _ intend _ to scare someone half-to-death, at _ least _ have the common courtesy to _ not _ let your spell _ miss them entirely!" _

Bizarre hair-tenne twitching, Sig stopped smiling as his features melted into a mask of complete and utter confusion. Softly, he tried to say, "Bunny, didn't mis-"

"D-don't call me that! I'm," struggling to contain both spurned rage and tears simultaneously, the novice dark mage ended up whimpering, "I'm... I'm going home. _ Alone._"

_ That _ had an impact. Increasingly desperate to grasp just _ what _ had gone wrong, his clawed fingers snagged Klug's sleeve, dragging his unwilling classmate back toward him. It was a little _ too _ forceful, though, effectively yanking the irate magic user off his feet and onto his side with a pained yelp. Were there only grass the impact wouldn't have been a big deal. But, Klug's luck being what it was, he just _ had _ to land on the only medium-sized rock in the vicinity.

The only mercy he'd been granted was that the stone's surface lacked points. Blunt force or not, it _ still _ ached intensely.

Hissing through his teeth, furious _ and _ in pain, his eyes squeezed shut while he tried to marshal the necessary willpower to rise and flee a second time. It... it was beyond him. _ Everything _ hurt, and to top it off, he suspected he'd broken a rib in the fall. Not fatal, but it was a new misery to pile on top of the rest.

"_Bun- _ eh, _ Klug?! _Wh-wh," the somnolist sputtered, unable to commit to either 'why' or 'what' in his panic, kneeling beside his prone companion, "y-you're hurt... Klug..."

"Obviously! This... this's _ your _ fault. St-stings when I breathe," rolling onto his back and muttering, the mage wheezed, trying to keep inhalations short and shallow but it didn't help much. "H-honestly, if you want to kill me just hurry up and do it already..."

At a complete loss, the half-soul stared at his suffering companion, trying to figure out how everything went so utterly, irrevocably wrong. That spell and the transition it required took more energy than he'd thought, leaving him woozy and making it harder to grasp just what had happened.

"... Why did I even come here in the first place?!"

_ That. _Everything would become clear if the mage just looked. Staring up at the sky, his eyes started to brim with tears. "K-Klug, please," he begged, "open your eyes..."

Growling in frustration, the academic snapped, "if I _ do_, will you agree to leave me alone?"

"U-um... if... if you want. Sure." Utterly defeated, Sig started idly tracing shapes in the grass, not sure what else to do.

"_Great_," he muttered through a wince, cracking his eyes open to satisfy their agreement and rid himself of the meddlesome pest, "good- _ bye, _ S-... I... oh..."

"S-sorry, kinda... lied. Can't leave like this," the bug hunter mumbled apologetically, untucking his friend's shirt and gingerly feeling around for the troublesome rib, "sorry..."

It wasn't possible. It _ shouldn't _ have been possible. The last time Klug had looked dejectedly up at the heavens it had been swathed in solid walls of black and gray. This time, there was a modest gap in the clouds, a window to the night sky and beyond. Bright flickers passed by here and there. _ Meteors. _

Sig... hadn't missed at all. He'd simply had a different target in mind.

"Can't bring the stars down like you do. Parting the clouds, though... wanted to try." Speaking for the sake of filling dead air, Sig continued prodding until he found the problem area, earning a silent pained twinge from his now-mute companion. _ There, got you, _he noted with morose satisfaction. "Umm, gonna feel kind of weird, so..."

Wordlessly, the celestial mage stared into the hole in the clouds, reluctant to use this gift he simply didn't deserve. Whatever pain Sig wanted to inflict on him... in this moment, he felt it was entirely justified. 

Numbness crept through Klug's chest, just enough to deaden the nerves while the half-soul continued poking him. True to his word, it could only be described as 'weird'. Was this healing magic or something of a different nature?

"... There. Should... should be okay," his dissimilar eyes showed some degree of relief but still looked heartbroken, not only a half-soul but now a lost one, too. Drawing his arms against his chest, he shrank back, not wishing to bring _ more _harm upon his bo-, no, his fri-, his...

Could he even consider himself a friend, now? That thought hurt even more than seeing the academic sprawled out, in less pain now than before, but it needn't have happened at all. It _ shouldn't _ have happened. Yet, it had.

"Um, hurts, but isn't broken. Bruised. Going now," Sig spoke in a soft monotone, fighting the strangling knot in his throat as he started to stand, "so, so sorry, Klug."

... Or to be more accurate, _ attempted _ to stand, knees buckling beneath him as he slumped back onto the grass. His own traitorous body wanted to make him a liar for a _ second _ time tonight. _ Stupid legs_, he thought, knowing full-well that it wasn't their fault. Transitioning to and from his 'black' state at will was draining by itself, but to use magic a second time...

Klug failed to notice his friend's condition, struggling to come to terms with what had happened, what he'd done and, worst of all, what he'd _ said_. Yes, he'd felt scared, confused and in a considerable amount of pain... but that didn't excuse lashing out. _ He probably hates me now, _ the mage lamented, _ and I can't blame him. _

He'd hurt Sig. He'd hurt him, while the somnolist was trying to do something special. Something special, for _ him_. Something he obviously didn't deserve. If Sig had just _ said _ something, if he'd been forewarned... but it wouldn't have been a surprise then, would it? _ Nocte stella, what have I done? _

An odd noise woke the mage from his trance. A low, persistent whine that cut off every forty-five seconds or so with what might have been a sob, then started up again like clockwork. Lolling his head to one side, he tried to identify the source of the sound and regretted it immediately. _ Sig_, he pleaded wordlessly, mouth moving but nothing coming out but blank air, _ please stop. Please, _ ** _please_ ** _ stop crying. It hurts... _

_ Sig, please don't... _

_ Sig, I'm sorry... _

_ Sig, I... _

"Sig..." It was more a hoarse croak than actual speech, but at least he was audible now.

_ Twitch. _Even if their bearer didn't acknowledge the whispered name, the involuntary movement of the hair-like plumes gave him away. His hands, which had been covering his face, fell away and hung loosely from his shoulders. Tears glistened beneath his left eye, illuminated by the soft crimson glow. He glanced off to the side, unwilling to look at Klug directly.

_ I don't blame him, _ the mage lamented, looking back up into the starry patch in the otherwise cloudy sky, _ I wouldn't want to see me, either. _

"Sorry. Can't leave. Tried," Sig's head dropped, his bangs obscuring the light from his scarlet eye, "too tired."

"I... I understand. I wouldn't want to be around myself either."

The hair-tenne wavered, as though simply repositioning them could clear the mixed message for their owner. Understandably, in his weary and demoralized state, the bug hunter was confused. Very, very confused. "Huh?"

"You went to all the trouble of doing _ this_," Klug gestured skyward, still lying uncomfortably on his back, "and I acted like a frightened child. I... I know you wouldn't... not on purpose."

"Scared the 'black' form would?"

"Again, not on purpose. That spell, the _ power _ was overwhelming. If it actually hit me-"

"Wouldn't do much."

"Exa-wait. _ What. _ Sig," green cat's eyes narrowing, he stared suspiciously, "just being close felt-"

"Maybe a headache. Pressure change."

"You're... you're being serious?"

"Mmhm," the strange young man with the glowing eye started poking absentmindedly at the grass again, "dispelling magic. Isn't for attacking."

"Why did it feel so intense, then?!"

Blink blink. _ Twitch_. As though the answer was blatantly obvious, something an idiot would easily grasp, he offered, "clouds're thick."

_ Oh. _ That... did make sense. Honestly, though, what kind of mage was he couldn't tell support spell from an offensive one? _ A panicked overreactionary one, of course, _ his subconscious jabbed_. _

"Should've told you before," the entomophile apologized, still avoiding his peer's gaze as a claw drew spiral shapes in the green blades, "wouldn't've been scared."

"... But you wanted it to be a surprise, is that it?"

"Kinda. Wasn't sure if it'd work," he mumbled, picking a blade of grass and studying a snail crawling on the underside "didn't want to disappoint you."

Sig had been scared of letting him down? And yet, he was afraid that Sig, or rather Sig's _ spell_, would hurt him. _ Deep down, you don't trust anyone, do you? _

Moments passed, one looking to the skies while the other stared at the earth. The break in the clouds was diminishing little by little and soon there would be no evidence that it had been there at all. As stunning as the meteors were, it wasn't possible to enjoy them, not in this state.

"Hey, Sig?"

"Hm?" He watched the snail make sticky trails on his hand, its tiny eyestalks wiggling. _ Not a bug, but still cute. _

"What can I do to make this right? I don't think a simple apology will, well, fix this..."

Placing the gastropod safely in a clump of flowering weeds, he shrugged and gave a non-committal sigh. "Dunno. Watch the meteors?"

"I... I can't enjoy them like this, Sig."

"Oh. Chest still hurts?" Another sigh, more downcast this time as he apologized _ again_. How many times would be enough?

_ Great, you made him feel worse! _"N-no, I mean it's sore, but that's not the problem. I've," Klug let out a long, weary sigh as he stared at someone he didn't deserve to call a friend, "I've been awful to you. Said unkind words. Doubted you. How can I make things right? Just saying sorry... it doesn't seem like nearly enough."

"S'okay. Don't worry about it."

"_No, _Sig! I'm serious!"

"Me too."

"_Sig! _ " Making a frustrated whine in his throat, the mage started gesticulating needlessly. "I mean, I don't feel like I deserve you as a _ friend _ right now, let alone a as boyfriend..."

"Still friends. Still boyfriends, if it's okay. Klug, don-"

"_Oh the love of everything celestial, Sig! _ You just calling me _ Klug _ sounds weird. Just... just call me Bunny, or Bookworm, or," he groaned, looking to the stars, "even Glasses would be okay, as long as it makes you happy."

"... Got hit with a ruler for calling you Glasses last time. You hate it."

"T-that was ages ago! And I do hate it, but that's how desperate I am, okay?"

"... Was last year."

"Tch! Well it _ feels _ like ages ago. Come on, Sig," his words had a panicked edged to them, wanting to do something, _ anything _ to make amends, "I don't know what to do..."

Honestly, all the half-soul wanted was to forgive and forget (and maybe nap), but that didn't seem to work for his chestnut-haired companion. The silly bookworm always had 'prove' things one way or another. Flopping over in the thick grass, he motioned for Klug to join him. "Over here."

Muscles protesting with every movement, the mage crawled over, sitting by his boyfriend's side with a vague apprehension. Surely his penance would demand more than just snuggling and missing the rest of the meteor shower. "Y-yes? Sig?"

"_Here, _ Bunny," Sig extended an arm, wanting his nervous partner to be at least _ slightly _ comfortable.

"I... that can't be _ all _ you want. _ Sig! _ Ple-"

"Mmhm. Do want something else, don't worry."

Looking at the reclining bug catcher skeptically, he did as requested, ignoring the ache in his side as he settled down, resting his head upon the offered arm. Having Sig calling him by one of the many ridiculous pet names made him feel a little less awful. Glancing over at the somnolist's nondescript expression, he quietly asked, "s-so? What do you have in mind?"

"Tell me about 'em."

"... About what?"

"Those," he pointed skyward, "comets?"

"_Sig, _ those are meteors. Comets are _ completely _ differe- wait. You're messing with me again, aren't you?"

"Mmhm. So, what're they? Rocks?"

"Well... for one thing, they're-" Completely in his element, Klug rattled off an extensive explanation about composition, the differences between comets and meteors and why this particular shower was so uncommonly rare. Little by little, he relaxed, his emerald eyes regaining that gleam they only had when he was lecturing.

_ That _ had been just what Sig wanted. The details of celestial bodies were mostly lost on him, but he didn't mind listening anyway, just happy that Klug was acting like himself again.

After awhile, the celestial enthusiast stopped talking, just staring into the sliver of cloudless sky.

"Hey, Sig?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you. This is, well, it's been amazing," Klug murmured, looking contrite even as he smiled, "I'm sorry fo-"

The bug catcher interrupted his sweetheart with a peck on the cheek. "Klug, don't. Both made mistakes, s'okay. Kinda tired, though..."

"Oh. That's... well, understandable. If you need a rest, I don't mind staying like this for awhile."

"Kay," Sig hummed, nudging his bookworm's neck affectionately, "love ya', Bunny."

Watching the last of the meteors flickering in the night, he snuggled a little closer and smirked. "Love you, too, Sleepybug."


End file.
